Process of preserving animal tissues and the products obtained thereby.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' JAMES noimison nernaxna, or rams, FRANCE.

PROCESS OF PRESERVING ANIMAL TISSUES AND THE PRODUCTS OBTAINED TH'EREBY.

No Drawing.

Specification of Letters Patent.

- Patented May 21, 1912.

Application filed February 28; 1906. Serial No. 303,550.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES ROBINSON HATMAKER, a citizen of the UnitedStates,

residing at Paris, France, have invented a or raw animal tissue.

One ofthe objects of the invention is to provide a practical andefficient process of the character described whereby animal tissue ispreserved without substantially changing the nature of its constituents.Another object is to provide a useful article of the class describedwhich shall be preservablewithout the addition of artificialpreservatives.

Another object is to provide a digestible article of the kind describedwhose components shall have substantially the same chemical compositionas the corresponding components of the article before drying.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed outhereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the several steps and the relationand order of one or more of such steps with relation to each oftheothers thereof, and in the features of the product, which will beexemplified in the hereinafter disclosed matter,

. and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in theclaims which follow.

The details of the process embodied in this disclosure of the inventionare as follows: Animal tissue is first'disintegrated in any suitablemanner until it has such a pulpy consistency that it may be readilyspread out in a very thin film or layer. The term animal tissue isintended to include those substances of a generally solid nature whichhave constituted a living animal or .been part thereof, as oysters,fish, meat and film or layer upon a suitable heated surface and quicklydried. In practice, it has been found that the dryingmay be efficientlyaccomplished-by thus exposing the material for a very few seconds to atemperature of 212 Fahrenheit, or more.

The film may be driedon suitablecylinders or plates and after drying maybe broken up and reduced to powder.

It will thus be seen that a simple, expeditious and useful process isprovided in which the objects of the invention are achieved It isobvious from the foregoing that the very thin film of organic tissue,when broken up and powdered, will form a flufi'y, dustlike mass ofmaterial, containing only asmall percentage of moisture. It has beenfound desirable to repare a product containing less than twe ve percent. of moisture.

On account of the method and the rapidity of the drying there is littleor no chance to take place for chemical change 'in the quently thenature of the dried material is" substantially the same after drying asit was before. stood that expressions of the nature of no chemicalchange used herein, are intended to convey the idea that there is nochemical change of importance other than the slight liberation ofcertain volatile products.

If the drying of organic tissue is not conducted rapidly, the resultingproduct will be cooked or at least there will be a change in itschemical constitution. For example, When, meat is slowly heated anddried the tissue is decomposed and loses many of its originalcharacteristics, assuming certain other properties on account of whichthe meatis termed cooked When, however, rapid heating and drying isemployed, as hereindescribe'd, thematerial may be preserved unchangedexcepting the absence of water. and some other volatile products.

water is extremely small. 4 V

It is. to be understood that the details of this embodiment of "theinvention may be variously modified; that a thin film of disintegratedmaterial may be prepared in other ways-than that mentioned; and that thetemperature and time occupied in drying may besuitably varied withinproper limits; 1

This process is adapted to the preserva- ,tion, of rawtissue, as well-as to thepreservingof cooked tissue. Further, it is advantageously'applicable to mixtures of'animal tissue with various other substancesnot injuriously affected by the drying process.

The constituents of the finished products are substantially the samechemically as the corresponding constituents of the untreated material.The products of the process do not require the addition of artificialpreservatives, since the method of drying described makes a dry sterileproduct. -They are, further, fresh, distinguishing them from formersalted preserved tissues. Their nutritive value and digestibility are,further, practically unimpaired.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesis:

1, The process which consists in finely dividing an animal substance,and exposing it in such form for an extremely short time to a mediumheated sufliciently high to cause a substantially instantaneousevaporation of its contained moisture, said medium being at atemperature of over 212 Fahrenheit, whereby there is attained a dried,disintegrated substance containing less than 12 per cent. of water andwhose components are substantially unchanged chemically from thecorresponding components of the original substance.

2. The herein described process Which consists in preparing a film ofanimal tissue and quickly drying said'film at a temperature above 212Fahrenheit, whereby substantially no chemical change occurs in saidtissue.

3. An article, consisting of dried, flufi'y, d ust-like animal tissuewhich has been sterilized by exposing it in a thin film upon a surfaceheated to a temperature above 212 Fahrenheit, whose' components containless than 12- per cent. of water and are substantially the samechemically as the corresponding components of the ori inal substance.

4. A dried, sterile, disintegrated animal substance containing less than12 per cent. of water and having had the majority of its original waterremoved by a substantially instantaneous exposure to a very highlyheated medium, the chemical composition of its components beingsubstantially the same as that of the corresponding components of theoriginal substance.

5. The hereinbefore described process of preserving animal tissue whichconsists in grinding such tissue with added water to a thin uniform pulpwhich can easily be spread out in a very thin film and in then spreadingout such pulp, in a very thin film, upon a suitable drying surfaceheated in excess of 212 F. and allowing it to remain thereon until itcontains less than 12% of water.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

JAMES ROBINSON HA'IMAKER. Vitnesses:

JOHN BAKER,

HANSON C. CoxE.

